Place ahead;

              NEW YORK
CHICAGO
PHILADELPHIA
DETROIT
CLEVELAND
BOSTON
ST. LOUIS
BALTIMORE
PITTSBURGH
SAN FRANCISCO
HASKINS & SELLS
C E R T I F I E D P U B L I C A C C O U N T A N TS
BULLETIN
LOS ANGELES
CINCINNATI
NEW ORLEANS
SEATTLE
KANSAS CITY
DENVER
ATLANTA
TULSA
WATERTOWN
LONDON
SHANGHAI
VOL. III NEW YORK, APRIL, 1920 No. 4
The Place Ahead
S O M E men have the idea that opals are
unlucky. When such men fail to get
ahead they blame the opals. Others attrib­ute
progress entirely to influence, and
when they fail to gain promotion, consider
lack of that possession as the cause.
The truth is the man who fails to move
forward is lacking in vision. Opals have
nothing to do with the matter. There
never was a time when influence generally
played so unimportant a part in business.
There has never been a time when down­right
ability counted for so much.
Ability is a word which means a great
deal. It does not restrict to the perform­ance
of routine and isolated operations.
It is far more inclusive.
The individual with ability performs his
specific task as well as he can. He regards
his relations to other individuals and to
the organization as a whole. He considers
his position as a representative of such or­ganization.
He fits himself for the duties
of the position above him.
The assistant financial head of a large
institution had gone comfortably along for
several years content to do well the work
assigned to him. He appeared to give no
thought to the place ahead. Suddenly his
chief resigned. He seemed to be the log­ical
man for the position, yet for some time
he was not appointed. He wondered at
it and worried over it. Still it did not oc­cur
to him that his neglect to fit himself to
take up the work of a higher order was a
factor bearing on the indecision.
In the accounting department of a cer­tain
railroad company it was made obliga­tory
that every man should fit himself for
the place ahead. The order was not taken
seriously until one or two men were dis­charged
for failure to comply. The others
developed into the liveliest corps imagin­able.
The results were most satisfactory.
Fitting one's self may mean a number
of things. It may be learning to do certain
specific work. It may be acquiring tact or
the art of supervision. Some persons have
to improve their appearance or suppress
some disagreeable aspect of their person­ality.
Others have to cultivate some trait
which is lacking. It consists, first, in ana­lyzing
the job and determining its require­ments;
second, analyzing one's self; third,
setting about to bring the individual quali­ties
into line with the requirements of the
job.
Vision of the sort just mentioned is likely
to account for many of the promotions to­day.
It is safer than depending upon luck.
It is more likely to bring success than trust­ing
in a talisman. But vision must be ac­companied
by thorough, intelligent, effec­tive
work in the present place. Thus may
one fit himself for the place ahead.
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